ccat: Make your command line more dazzling

ccat, or "color cat", is a simple and powerful tool. It reads files sequentially and writes them to standard output, just like the traditional cat command. But ccat adds visual advantages - color coding, making the command line experience more friendly and improving the readability and understanding of the code.

Install ccat

Before you start using it, you need to make sure that the system has ccat installed. Installation methods vary by Linux distribution, and the following are several common methods:

For Ubuntu, Debian and its derivatives:

Download the latest .deb package from the official ccat GitHub repository ( http://ipnx.cn/link/073c83fb6a5532256c1f33f207330684 ). After the download is completed, use the dpkg command to install:

 sudo dpkg -i /path/to/downloaded_file.deb

For Arch Linux and Manjaro:

Use the following command to download and install the ccat package from the AUR repository:

 git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/ccat.git
cd ccat
makepkg -si

For other distributions:

You can build ccat from source. Make sure the system has Go installed, clone the ccat repository, and build and install:

 git clone http://ipnx.cn/link/073c83fb6a5532256c1f33f207330684.git
cd ccat
go build
sudo mv ccat /usr/local/bin/

Using ccat

After installing ccat, let's see how it actually works. ccat is used the same as the cat command, just replace cat with ccat :

 ccat file_name

You will notice that different types of text (such as comments, keywords, and strings) will be displayed in different colors, providing a more pleasing and organized output. For example, the comments may be blue, the keywords are bold yellow, and the strings are green.

If you want to use ccat as the default cat command, you can create an alias. Add the following line to your .bashrc or .zshrc file:

 alias cat='ccat'

After the update, remember to reload the .bashrc/.zshrc file, or simply close and reopen the terminal.

Custom ccat

A key advantage of ccat is customizability. You can adjust the color settings for different types of text in the output to match your preferences.

To customize ccat, you need to create a JSON configuration file named .ccat in your home directory. Each element in a JSON file represents a different part of the code. You can assign different colors to literals, keywords, comments, strings, and more. Here is an example:

 {
  "Color": {
    "String": "#dd2200",
    "Keyword": "#2255dd",
    "Comment": "#00aa22",
    "Plaintext": "#00aadd"
  }
}

After saving the configuration file, the next time you use ccat, it will apply these color codes.

Summarize

All in all, the ccat tool is an excellent way to enhance the visual representation of the console, especially if you often use the cat command to read files. By color-coded the output, ccat brings new dimensions to your Linux terminal, improving readability, understanding, and overall user experience. Start using ccat now and add color to your code world!

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